Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology (MISPA)

The Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology (MISPA) offers a fully online way of studying psychological astrology from wherever you may be in the world. You can study for a Diploma in Psychological Astrology or take part in webinars from acclaimed professional astrologers and tutors to further your knowledge or just for sheer pleasure.

MISPA was set up in 2015 by John Green to allow worldwide access to psychological astrology, a discipline combining astrology and depth, humanistic, and transpersonal psychology. John, a tutor for the Centre for Psychological Astrology (CPA), set up the school to fulfil the demand for a qualification in psychological astrology following on from the work of Liz Greene, Howard Sasportas and many others who have been explorers in this fascinating world.

About

The Mercury Internet School of Psychological Astrology (MISPA) is devoted to teaching psychological astrology. The aim of MISPA is to provide a high standard of tuition in psychological astrology so that the astrological chart can be sensitively interpreted in a psychological manner. Their tutors have worked as practicing astrologers, teachers and consultants for many years. Many of the tutors were trained or worked for many years with the Centre for Psychological Astrology (CPA) under Director Liz Greene. Since the CPA decided it no longer wanted to offer any assessment, grade system, or qualification John Green set up MISPA to provide an astrological education to Diploma level for those who do wish to pursue a qualification and to teach psychological astrology to students all over the world. They are very happy to have Liz Greene's continued support in the school and what they do.

MISPA offers online classes, webinars and courses deigned to allow students to discover the power of astrology in their lives and use it as a tool for understanding themselves and their clients better. You can join them either as a student with a view to becoming a professional astrologer or just to further your knowledge in the wonderfully involving world of psychological astrology.

Study

MIPSA's course consists of two years, split into a first year of set classes which teach the core themes and skills of psychological astrology, and a second year where students will attend webinars on a variety of topics exploring different avenues of psychological astrology, counselling skills and other techniques to help them provide better astrological consultations. It should be noted that no formal training as a counsellor or therapist is provided by the course. The course is run as real-time online tutorials. The student will be able to interact with the tutor and other students, ask questions and watch the recorded sessions if they miss them or wish to revisit them.

The course runs over three-terms each year, with terms usually starting in October, January and April. Students are expected to attend or watch the recordings of all classes in year one and all webinars in year two. Each term will have one or two supervision groups which students must attend and where each student has the opportunity of presenting case material from the charts they are working on. In the second year an oral assessment will be conducted for each student.

Year One

Each term consists of 7 classes. The topics covered are:-

Term 1

Introduction to Jungian psychology

The persona

Parental images and family dynamics

Complexes and projection

The shadow

Vocation

There is one supervision group.

Term 2

The anima and animus

Relationship astrology - synastry and composites

The psychology of transits, progressions and directions

Solar returns

There is one supervision group.

Term 3

Life cycles

The astrology of the collective

World astrology

The consulting astrologer

Chart narration

There are two supervision groups.

Students also get to pick one free webinar per term and may attend extra webinars at a student rate.

Year Two

Each term will have six webinars each given by a different tutor or visiting lecturer. There will be two supervision groups per term with students split into smaller groups with a separate tutor. Each student will also have an one hour oral assessment with a tutor.

Topics covered will be varied with some covering special areas of interest of the lecturer, others looking at more core themes and exploring further the themes covered in Year One.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, subjects such as:-

Current Cycles

Generational Cycles

Planetary Archetypes

Signs and Houses

Aspects

Techniques and Ethics of Forecasting

Relationship Astrology

Interpretation Techniques

Astrology in the World

Body/Mind, Illness, Health

Myths

Counselling Skills

Other techniques such as Horary, Midpoints, Harmonics etc.

Qualifications

On completing the required number of classes, webinars, supervision groups and an oral assessment the student is entitled to receive the MISPA Certificate of Completion in Psychological Astrology.

After passing the certificate, the student is entitled to take the MISPA Diploma in Psychological Astrology, with permission to use the letters Dip. MISPA.

In order to be awarded the MISPA Diploma in Psychological Astrology the student must present a one and a half hour reading-in paper to at least two tutors, demonstrating their skills with a client over a series of sessions. An extra fee is payable for the Diploma exam. All requirements will be discussed with a course tutor before taking the exam.

The MISPA Diploma does not constitute a formal counselling or psycho-therapeutic training, therefore students who wish to work as ongoing counsellors or therapists are encouraged to complete a further training course focussing on these skills.

Admission Requirements

The guidelines for admission to the course are:

A sound basic knowledge of the meaning of the signs, planets, houses, aspects, transits and progressions. MISPA recommend the Foundations of Psychological Astrology Course run by John Green at the CPA which will take the student to the required level of knowledge. They are also happy to consider those who have taken a similar level course at other schools or if they feel they have the knowledge without a formal course they may email MISPA for an assessment.

Being able and prepared to work on one's own individual development.

An adequate educational background, level of English and communication ability will be looked for in students, as well as a degree of empathy, integrity and sense of responsibility

Students will require a computer with a web browser, broadband connection and the Flash Player plug-in 11.2 or higher. They will also require a headset for supervision groups. Full system requirements and terms and conditions are available on their website.

John Green - Director

John Green D.Psych.Astrol. F.A.P.A.I. was born and lives in London. Previously he has worked as a research scientist and as a web designer. He is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction and has had work published in encyclopaedias, popular magazines and in Apollon, the Journal of Psychological Astrology which was published from 1998-2001.

He has been involved with astrology for over 25 years and studied at the Centre for Psychological Astrology where he qualified with the Diploma. As well as founding and running MISPA he works as an astrology consultant and teaches the online CPA Foundation Course. He is the author of the synastry book Do You Love Me? - The Astrology of Relationships. John also contributed a chapter to the book Astrology: The New Generation published by Flare Publications. He was the editor of The Astrological Journal from 2008 to 2013. He founded MISPA in 2015.

Tutors

Lynn Bell

Lynn Bell is a Paris-based astrologer whose work spans multiple cultures as a speaker, teacher, author and consultant in astrology. She has been teaching at The Centre for Psychological Astrology in London since 1995, and has had an active consultation practice in Paris for over twenty-five years. Living in France, she has developed a strongly cyclic approach to astrology and blended it with her own psychological work as well as training in Eriksonian Hypnosis and work in family therapy.

A background in literature and sociology come together in an keen interest in the relationship between the individual and collective cycles. She has spoken at most of the major astrology conferences in the world, UAC, ISAR, the World Congress in Switzerland and the FAA in Australia, as well as many other venues in the UK and Europe, Mexico and the US. She has been a tutor for The Faculty of Astrological Studies Summer school in Oxford, and teaches seminars internationally. She has recently taught seminars in Austria, Norway, Holland and Germany, as well as France and Mexico. She joined MISPA at its inception in 2015.

Her articles have appeared in The Mountain Astrologer, Apollon, The AA Journal, Meridian and other major astrological publications. Her most recent book is Cycles of Light: Exploring the Mysteries of Solar Returns (2005). She is co-author Of the Mars Quartet(2001) (with Darby Costello, Liz Greene and Melanie Reinhart) and the author of Planetary Threads (1999) , which explores family patterns in astrology. She helped create L'Association Française d'Astropsychologie in Paris.

Darby Costello

Darby Costello studied psychology, philosophy and theology in America in the mid 1960s. After some travel she returned to the US to study astrology in Boston, first with Francis Sarkoian and Louis Acker and then with Isobel Hickey. In 1971 she went to South Africa for a brief visit and stayed twelve years. During that time she worked with the Museum of Man and Science, in Johannesburg, recording the art and practices of the samgomas; the diviner/healers of Southern Africa. Concurrently she began doing charts for people, gradually developing a wide clientele over the years. In 1983 she came to London. During the first few years she developed her practice and began giving workshops and seminars to various groups, while deepening her own knowledge of astrology's cultural history. In 1988 she joined the Centre for Psychological Astrology where she has been teaching ever since. She joined MISPA at its inception in 2015.

She is also a visiting tutor for the Faculty of Astrological Studies and teaches and lectures regularly throughout the UK and Europe. She wrote her first book, Astrology, for Dorling Kindersley's "Pocket" series, with Lindsay Radermacher. She then wrote three books of seminar collections for the CPA Press: The Astrological Moon, Water and Fire, and Earth and Air.

She was one of the four contributors to the The Mars Quartet, published in 2001. She received her Master's Degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from Bath Spa University in 2007.

Clare Martin

Clare Martin's personal approach to astrological interpretation was originally inspired by astrologer, teacher and Jungian analyst Dr Liz Greene and has gradually evolved during a long period of studying with a variety of teachers in the western mystery traditions. In her teaching and client work her approach is fundamentally Jungian.

She has a Masters Degree in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling from City University, London. Her dissertation explored the relationship between astrology, Carl Jung's alchemical studies and Stanislav Grof's perinatal matrices.

Clare has the Diplomas of the Faculty of Astrological Studies and the Centre for Psychological Astrology, where she taught the Introduction to Psychological Astrology course for many years, and was a regular lecturer and supervisor of Diploma students.

Former President of the Faculty of Astrological Studies, Clare presided over the Faculty's annual Summer Schools in Oxford for nine years, attended by students and eminent astrological teachers and lecturers from all over the world. In 2010 she was awarded the Fellowship of the Faculty of Astrological Studies, bestowed for exceptional service.

Clare is the author ofMapping the Psyche, a three volume Introduction to Psychological Astrology, which has been translated into several European languages. This trilogy is based on the beginners' course she taught at the Centre for Psychological Astrology and is published by the CPA Press.

Helen Sewell

Helen Sewell is a professional psychological astrologer, having gained a diploma with the CPA in the late 1990s. With over 25 years client experience, she now has a busy international private practice in East Sussex. Helen is also a Relate-trained couple therapist and has found astrology to be a particularly useful tool when addressing relationship issues if clients request this. Over the years, Helen has taught astrology to various groups including deputising as tutor for the beginners class at the CPA. She joined MISPA at its inception in 2015.

Being passionate about astrology she has put a lot of energy into informing people about its validity as a worthwhile tool in helping to deepen understanding of the human condition and as a mirror to world events, providing a road map to what can sometimes be bewildering experiences. With this in mind, as well as addressing astrologers Helen often speaks to groups and presents at conferences around the world where the audience have little or no knowledge of astrology, to wave the flag for this often maligned art. Helen's work has been featured in several magazines, and she has appeared on numerous radio shows and her presentations on Sky's Edge TV and YouTube have been watched by many people.

Juliet Sharman-Burke

Juliet Sharman-Burke has been practising astrology and tarot for over twenty years. She has been teaching and supervising for the Centre for Psychological Astrology since its inception in June 1983, and now runs the Centre's administration. She joined MISPA in 2015. She is also a qualified analytic psychotherapist with a private practice in London.

Juliet is the author of The Complete Book of Tarot, The Mythic Tarot Workbook, Understanding Tarot, Mastering the Tarot, Beginner's Guide to the Tarot, and co-author of The Mythic Tarot and The Mythic Journey with Liz Greene.

She has also written The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Stars, a book for children, The Family Inheritance: Parental Images in the Horoscope (Vol. 3 of the CPA Press Seminar Series) and The Astrologer, the Counsellor and the Priest (Vol. 2 of the CPA Press Seminar Series) with Liz Greene.

As one of the largest astrology portals WWW.ASTRO.COM offers a lot of free features on the subject. With high-quality horoscope interpretations by the world's leading astrologers Liz Greene, Robert Hand and other authors, many free horoscopes and extensive information on astrology for beginners and professionals, www.astro.com is the first address for astrology on the web.